Easy door opener

ABSTRACT

Easy door opener with a door knob grip section and a lever handle section. The door knob grip section is a resilient curved elongated thin element with inner and outer ends, almost closed on itself and having an inverted U-shaped cross section, serrated with teeth on opposed parallel edges. The inner end terminates in an outwardly extending lever handle which is joined to the inner end at a junction, and extending over this junction to the outer end of the grip section is a threaded member whereby the curved grip section can be placed around a door knob and the threaded member fastened so that the resilient grip section closes in on the handle. The serrated teeth grip the contours of the door knob and the user can readily open the door with the lever handle.

I United States Patent 1 13,575,453

I Inventor Philip 2,488,635 11/1949 Martin 292 347 Pun"!codeine-(5361ViIgiMP-O-BW 2,825,596 3/1958 Nagy 292/3 363 67, Troy,Mlch- 4884) 2,942,909 6/1960 Chase 292/347 [21] Appl. No. 19,961 [22]Filed 16 1970 Prunary Examiner-James A. Leppmk [45] Patented Apr. 20,1971 Assistant Examzner-Edvvard J. McCarthy Attorney-George B. Ou evolk[54] EASY DOOR OPENER 3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs. ABSTRACT: Easy dooropener w1th a door knob grlpsect ion and a lever handle sect1on. Thedoor knob grlp sectlon 1s a U-S- Cle ili nt urved elongated thin elementinner and outer 292/347 ends, almost closed on itself and having aninverted U-shaped Int. Cl. ro ection serrated teeth on opposed edgesE05b 1/00 The inner end terminates in an outwardly extending leverhanofsearch dle is joined to the inner end at a junction and 348, 349,350, 352, 354, 336.3; 16/121; 74/543, extending over this junction tothe outer end of the grip 555,287 53 (H) section is a threaded memberwhereby the curved grip section References cued can be placed around adoor knob and the threaded member fastened so that the resilient gripsection closes in on the han- UNITED STATES PATENTS 629,999 8/1899Jacobs dle. The serrated teeth grip the contours of the door knob andthe user can readily open the door with the lever handle.

Patented April 20, 1971 3,575,453

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

PHILIP M. I'IOHL INVIZNTOR.

BY 61-0476 Ow k I fif/pz/ue Patented April 20, 1971 3,575,453

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PHILIP M. HOHL INVENI'OR.

sass s oran e BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relatesto an easy door opener and more particularly to an easy door openerwhich can be readily manufactured on a mass production basis from wastematerial readily available, and is particularly useful for elderlypersons living in trailers and mobile homes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART At present a large number of personswho are elderly or infirm with illnesses which prevent them from usingtheir limbs reside in mobile homes. To protect these homes against theweather, the manufacturers usually have the doors close to a very tightfit. Although once the door knob is turned, the door will readily swingopen, the door knob presents a problem. Also, this problem is often notpeculiar to mobile homes, since very often the door knobs in regularhomes will not turn.

Although many attempts may have been made to solve the foregoingproblem, none, as far as I am aware have been successful when carriedout into practice commercially.

ll have now discovered that it is possible to provide an attachment fora door knob which will facilitate the readily opening of the door by acrippled person or a child.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Thus, it is an object of the invention toprovide a device which can be used to readily open a door.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which can beeasily manufactured from commercially available materials.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a devicewhich is easy to manufacture with few operations, can be readilypackaged and readily attached to any door knob.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, the present inventioncontemplates an easy door opener which has a door knob grip section anda lever handle section. The door knob grip section has a curvedconfiguration consisting of a resilient curved elongated thin elementwith an inner and outer end almost closed on itself and having aninverted U-shaped cross-sectional configuration the opposed edges of theinverted U-shape being serrated, with teeth. The inner end terminates inan outwardly extending lever handle which is joined to the inner end ata junction, and extending over this junction to the outer end of thegrip section is athreaded member, e.g., a screw. Thus, the curved gripsection can be placed around a door knob and the threaded memberfastened so that the resilient curved grip section closes in on thehandle. The serrated teeth gripping the contours of the door knob.

The invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof willbecome more. apparent from the following detailed description, whentaken in connection with the DETAILED DESCRIPTION The easy door openerill shown in the drawing has a door knob grip section 113 and a leverhandle section 15. The grip section l3 consists of a curved elongatedthin metal or plastic strip 17 which has a generally open edged invertedU-shaped configuration. The opposed edges 19, 211 are serrated and haveteeth 23 which preferably have a rectangular rather than a pointedshape. This is to protect the user since the rectangular teeth willprovide the necessary grip and will not catch on clothing. Metal orplastic strip 117 is almost closed on itself. Thus, there is an innerend 25 and an outer end 27 and these inner and outer ends aresubstantially fiat and have no teeth and are disposed in planes whichare almost parallel. Extending from the inner end 25 to the outer end 27is a threaded member 29, e.g., a nut and bolt arrangement with a nut 31at the end. The inner end of the metal or plastic strip 17 is joined ata junction 32 to a lever handle 33, which is part of the lever handlesection 15. Actually, the lever handle section 15 and the door knob gripsection 13 can be integral. Preferably, the lever handle 33 will have atubular shape, and to finish off the handle, an end cap 35 is placed onthe outer end of the lever handle 33.

OPERATION OF THE INVENTION It is desired to provide means to readilyopen a door knob 37 which is shown'in FIGS. 2 and 3. The nut 31 isloosened and the resilient grip section strip 17 is opened so that itwill fit around the door knob. The grip section is placed around thedoor knob and the lever handle 33 is disposed in a convenient attitude,e.g., downwards. The nut 31 is then fastened on bolt 29 so that theteeth 23 grip the knob firmly. The device is now in place and elderlyand infirm persons can readily open up the door.

MANUFACTURE OF THE INVENTION For the purpose of giving those skilled inthe art a better understanding of the invention, the followingillustrative example is given as to the manufacture of the invention.

EXAMPLE A load of reject tubing was obtained from a television antennamanufacturer. This tubing consisted of odd pieces which had either beenrejected during the seam welding operation and inspection or consistedalso largely of cutoff end pieces too small to be of any use. Thesereject pieces were then cut to useable size to define a door knob gripsection to grip any door and a lever handle section between 6 to 10inches. The sizes need not be uniform so as to lessen the manufacturingoperation and to make greater use of the reject tubing pieces. Theindividual workpieces tubing were then marked by eye with a coloredpencil so as to define the door knob grip section and the handle sectionand the junction. The tubing was then cut radially at the junctionleaving only a narrow strip connecting both sides of the tubing. Thedefined door grip section was then cut longitudinally opposite theconnecting strip so as to open up the tubing. Teeth were then cut alongthe edges of the defined door knob grip section except at the inner andouter ends of this defined section which were then flattened by a press.Apertures were then drilled in these flattened sections and a bolt waspassed through and a nut placed on the open end of the bolt. A smallplastic end cap was then placed on the end of the lever handle to finishthe workpiece.

Although the device of this invention has been particularly describedabout, it is obvious that modifications and variations of the inventionare possible.

Iclaim:

1. An easy door opener comprising in combination:

a. a door knob grip section (13) having an elongated thin strip ofresilient material having an open inverted U- shaped cross section withsubstantially parallel edges (19, 21) and inwardly curved;

b. flat inner and outer ends (25, 27) on said elongated thin strip;

c. a plurality of teeth (13) extending between said innerand outer ends(25, 27) along the edges (19, 21) of said elongated thin strip;

d. a threaded member (29) extending across between said flat inner andouter ends (23, 27 including threadable means (31) thereon to increaseor decrease the distance between said inner and outer ends;

2. An easy door opener as claimed in claim I, said teeth having agenerally rectangular configuration.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said handle has a tubularconfiguration, said junction comprising a thin strip 5 joining said doorknob grip section and said lever handle.

1. An easy door opener comprising in combination: a. a door knob gripsection (13) having an elongated thin strip of resilient material havingan open inverted U-shaped cross section with substantially paralleledges (19, 21) and inwardly curved; b. flat inner and outer ends (25,27) on said elongated thin strip; c. a plurality of teeth (13) extendingbetween said inner and outer ends (25, 27) along the edges (19, 21) ofsaid elongated thin strip; d. a threaded member (29) extending acrossbetween said flat inner and outer ends (25, 27) including threadablemeans (31) thereon to increase or decrease the distance between saidinner and outer ends; e. a junction (32) defined on said inner end; and,f. a lever handle (33) extending outwards from said junction, wherebysaid door knob grip section can be fastened to a door knob by tighteningsaid threaded member and the door knob can then be readily turned usingsaid lever handle.
 2. An easy door opener as claimed in claim 1, saidteeth having a generally rectangular configuration.
 3. A device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said handle has a tubular configuration,said junction comprising a thin strip joining said door knob gripsection and said lever handle.